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News
Cougars headed to Tennessee for NAIA
Opening Round Action
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Opening Round Bracket
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (5-15-2010) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University baseball team
will look to continue its postseason journey
next week when the Cougars head to Lee
University in Cleveland, Tenn. for the NAIA
National Championship Opening Round that
gets under way on Tuesday.
MVNU (32-21) has made the most of its
postseason berth so far after taking
advantage of a forfeit by Notre Dame College
to Malone University and a win by Shawnee
State University over Notre Dame on the
final day of the regular season to take the
third and final playoff berth in the
American Mideast Conference Tournament. The
Cougars beat No. 2 seed Malone University
6-3 in the AMC Tournament opener and then
took two of three from top seed and
regular-season AMC champ Shawnee State in
the best-of-three AMC Tournament
championship series with 12-6 and 11-9 wins
after a 11-6 loss in the opener to take the
tournament title.
MVNU, which is making its third NAIA
National Championship appearance and first
since a fifth-place finish at the NAIA World
Series in 2004, has posted a 3-4 record
all-time in NAIA National Championship play.
The Cougars have faced four of the 45 teams
in the NAIA National Championship Opening
Round field - Huntington (Ind.) University,
Indiana Institute of Technology, Grand View
(Iowa) University, and Ohio Dominican
University - and posted a 5-4 record against
them this season.
MVNU’s offensive attack has posted a .328
team batting average with a .405 on-base
percentage and a .472 slugging percentage.
The Cougars, who had hit 26 home runs
through their first 49 games, pounded eight
round-trippers over the four games of the
AMC Tournament.
Senior third baseman Matt Parks leads MVNU
with a .432 batting average and 12 doubles
to go with 34 RBI. Junior outfielder Steve
Williams (.373, 42 RBI, 45 runs), freshman
outfielder Brian Brockly (.373, 6 triples,
50 runs), sophomore first baseman Josh
Roberts (.356, 41 RBI, 45 runs), freshman
second baseman Jordan Doherty (.333, 31 RBI,
33 runs, 11 stolen bases), sophomore
outfielder Chaz Gibson (.319, 40 RBI, 41
runs), senior catcher Travis McInerney
(.301, 37 RBI), junior designated hitter Ian
Durbin (.292, 23 RBI), and junior shortstop
Michael Hendren (.276, 38 runs) round out
the rest of the lineup.
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Kyle
Barr leads the starting rotation with a 7-5
record, 5.00 ERA, and 73 strikeouts in 72
innings. Junior right-hander Grant Martin
(1-4, 3.83 ERA, 24 strikeouts), junior
right-hander Caleb Wright (5-3, 5.26 ERA, 26
strikeouts), sophomore right-hander Jerrob
Decker (5-0, 6.21 ERA, 38 strikeouts), and
freshman lefty Luis Bàez (4-4, 6.18 ERA, 33
strikeouts) round out the rotation.
Meanwhile, freshman lefty Justin Brown (2-1,
4.26 ERA), freshman lefty Tim Harvey (0-0,
1.93 ERA), junior right-hander Steve Miller
(2-1, 8.27 ERA), and sophomore right-hander
Jeff Estep (1-2, 8.41 ERA) will be called
upon out of the bullpen to log innings
before turning the ball over to freshman
right-hander closer Darren Athey (4-1, 4.43
ERA) who has posted a school-record 10
saves.
"This is a great opportunity for our guys,”
said MVNU coach Keith Veale, who has posted
a 708-352 record over 21 seasons with the
Cougars. "We talked about in the regular
season just working to get in the playoffs
because anything can happen. We proved that
this week (in the AMC Tournament). Now, we
just need to take each game one at a time
and do the best that we can to execute and
see what happens.”
MVNU, which is the No. 5 seed in the
five-team double elimination event, will
face No. 4 seed William Jewell (Mo.) College
in the first game of the tournament on
Tuesday at noon. The Cardinals (38-13) are
making their 12th appearance in the NAIA
National Championship with a 10-19 overall
mark including winning the 1968 title.
William Jewell captured the Heart of America
Athletic Conference regular-season title
before going 1-2 in the HAAC Tournament.
The Cardinals are led by junior outfielder
Jon Farris, who was named to the HAAC First
Team with a .363 batting average, 50 runs,
30 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. First baseman
Joe Summers (.356, 44 RBI, 33 runs), junior
shortstop Jason DeMore (.353, 41 RBI, 42
runs), junior second baseman Randy Cruz
(.335, 41 RBI, 48 runs), freshman outfielder
J.P. Bartmess (.330, 28 runs, 16 stolen
bases), junior outfielder/infielder Freddie
Adamson (.318, 39 RBI, 30 runs), and junior
catcher Tyler Harrison (.315, 36 RBI) are
also all key parts to the William Jewell
offensive attack that has a team batting
average of .319 with a .424 on-base
percentage and a .430 slugging percentage.
The Cardinals have also stolen 76 bases this
year.
On the mound, junior right-hander Jamison
Miller (8-0, 3.92 ERA, 50 strikeouts) and
senior right-hander Steve Johnson (7-2, 3.44
ERA, 61 strikeouts) are the top two pitchers
for the Cardinals, while junior right-hander
Mo Sckaer (5-0, 3.56 ERA), senior
right-hander Darren O’Brien (5-0, 3.67 ERA),
and junior right-hander Jake Fenwick (4-5,
4.33 ERA) round out the William Jewell
rotation. Junior right-hander Ben Rister
(2-0, 2.55 ERA) is the team’s closer and has
five saves and 17 strikeouts in 17.2 innings
of work spanning 17 appearances. The
Cardinals have a team ERA of 4.86 and
opponents are hitting just .266 against
them.
The winner of Tuesday’s first game will play
again at 7:00 p.m. against No. 1 seed and
host Lee. The Flames, who are 46-11 and
ranked No. 4 in the final NAIA poll, were
the Southern States Athletic Conference
regular-season champions and SSAC Tournament
co-champions after the tournament final
against Brewton-Parker (Ga.) College was
rained out with both teams having one loss
apiece. Lee, who has won 17 of its last 18
games, is making its fifth appearance in the
NAIA National Championship including its
fourth straight with an 11-8 record
all-time. The Flames were the 2008 national
runner-up and finished third last year.
Lee is led offensively by junior shortstop
Jose Cuevas (.380, 62 RBI, 50 runs), senior
third baseman Tanner Moore (.379, 67 RBI, 75
runs, 20 home runs), senior
infielder/catcher Junior Rodriguez (.372, 67
RBI, 49 runs, 14 home runs), junior
outfielder J.J. Costantino (.369, 43 RBI, 69
runs, 50 stolen bases), and junior
infielder/outfielder Edgar Molina (.363, 43
RBI, 42 runs). The Flames rank fifth in the
NAIA by scoring 9.3 runs per game and are
sixth with 138 stolen bases.
The Lee pitching staff features a 3.64 ERA
while holding opponents to a .248 batting
average that ranks seventh in the NAIA.
Senior right-hander Scott Swinson (10-0,
3.20 ERA, 72 strikeouts), senior lefty
Matthew Gilson (9-0, 2.05 ERA, 64
strikeouts), junior right-hander Jay Bolen
(7-1, 4.41 ERA, 54 strikeouts), and freshman
lefty David Eskew (5-1, 4.68 ERA, 26
strikeouts) makes up the starting rotation,
while senior right-hander Aaron Everett
(5-6, 2.17 ERA, 44 strikeouts) has posted
seven saves.
The second game on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. will
feature No. 2 seed University of South
Carolina-Beaufort versus No. 3 seed Taylor
(Ind.) University. The Sand Sharks of South
Carolina-Beaufort (38-13) finished second in
the Sun Conference regular-season standings
and are ranked No. 20 in the final NAIA
poll. However, they dropped their first two
games in the Sun Conference Tournament and
grabbed the ninth of 14 at-large berths to
earn the program’s first-ever berth in the
NAIA National Championship in only the
school’s second year of having a baseball
team.
South Carolina-Beaufort is led by sophomore
infielder Gabe Torres (.458, 32 RBI, 47
runs), junior infielder Spencer Jackson
(.422, 36 RBI, 33 runs), junior
catcher/first baseman Brandon Collins (.409,
52 RBI, 30 runs), junior infielder Larry
Perry (.400, 29 RBI, 52 runs, 21 stolen
bases), senior infielder T.J. Kemp (.389, 32
RBI), sophomore outfielder R.J. Neal (.362,
43 RBI, 38 runs, 11 stolen bases), and
sophomore infielder David O’Neil (.361, 50
runs). The Sand Sharks have a .348 team
batting average with a .407 on-base
percentage and a .496 slugging percentage.
South Carolina-Beaufort’s pitching staff has
posted a 3.91 ERA and is led by junior lefty
Adam Miller, who has posted a 10-1 record
with a 3.94 ERA and 66 strikeouts. Junior
right-hander Spencer Cromer (6-4, 3.80 ERA,
56 strikeouts) and senior lefty Jared
Campbell (3-2, 4.23 ERA, 24 strikeouts) are
the other two primary starters, while the
bullpen appears to get plenty of work with
the Sand Sharks having just seven complete
games on the year.
Taylor, the Mid-Central Conference
regular-season champion, received the 12th
at-large berth into the NAIA National
Championship Opening Round field by virtue
of being the second-highest team in the
Other’s Receiving Votes section of the final
NAIA national poll. The Trojans, who are
making program’s third appearance in the
NAIA National Championship with a 3-4
all-time mark, have posted a 38-15 overall
record so far this year.
Taylor’s offense, which boasts a .345 team
batting average, a .437 on-base percentage,
a .519 slugging percentage, and 49 home
runs, is led by sophomore first baseman Ryne
Otis (.394, 62 RBI, 59 runs, 12 stolen
bases, 12 home runs). Sophomore
catcher/infielder Rhett Goodmiller (.389, 46
runs), freshman infielder/outfielder Derek
Kinzer (.363, 26 RBI, 27 runs), freshman
outfielder Jordan Coffey (.336, 42 RBI),
senior outfielder Nate Hillery (.311, 35
RBI, 40 runs), and sophomore infielder
Michael Nassar (.307, 26 RBI, 45 runs) also
all contribute to the Trojans’ success.
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Travis
Carsten (10-1, 3.48 ERA, 41 strikeouts) and
sophomore right-hander Travis Tomaszewski
(7-0, 3.23 ERA, 38 strikeouts, NAIA-leading
6 walks) lead the rotation that also
includes sophomore lefty Ryan Baker (6-2,
3.62 ERA, 50 strikeouts) and junior lefty
Zach Vander Laan (4-7, 4.61 ERA, 34
strikeouts). Senior right-hander Michael
Kraynak is the closer for Taylor with a 1-0
record, a 5.68 ERA, and seven saves. The
Trojans have a team ERA of 4.32 with 16
complete games.
Following Tuesday’s action, there will be
two loser’s bracket games on Wednesday and
the winner’s bracket championship game. The
tournament will continue with two games on
Thursday and the ‘if necessary’ game slated
for Friday.
The winners of the nine Opening Round
tournaments along with the host school
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College will meet
at the final site for the 54th annual
Avista-NAIA World Series from May 28-June 4
in Lewiston, Idaho.
Live radio broadcasts of each of MVNU’s
games will be available on both 90.9 FM and
wnzr.fm/sports.html
with Joe Rinehart and Dave Parsons calling
all the action. Links to live stats for each
game of the tournament will also be
available.
Tickets to each one-day session (up to three
games per-day) are $7 for adults, $4 for
students 13-college age, and $2 for children
ages 6-12. Children ages 5 years and under
will be admitted free. Lee University has a
no pet policy and coolers will not be
allowed inside the ballpark | |
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